Insect attracting and eliminating device

ABSTRACT

An insect elimination device has an outer grid with an inner grid disposed within the outer grid. A voltage source powers the inner grid, the outer grid or both. A warming tube is disposed within the inner grid and provides a thermal lure. A UV light source is disposed within the warming tube to provide a first optical lure. A control circuit controls the duty cycle, which is greater than 0% and less than 100%, of the UV light source while the voltage source is powering the elimination zone of the inner grid and the outer grid to keep the thermal lure within a predetermined temperature range.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.14/014,897, filed Aug. 30, 2013, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/695,656, filed Aug. 31, 2012, thecontents of each application are incorporated herein by reference.

1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to devices used to eliminateannoying pests and insects. In particular, the present invention relatesto an insect elimination device that attracts and eliminates pests, suchas flying insects.

2. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Known in the art are various devices that attract and eliminate varioustypes of insects that are attracted by light, typically flying insects.A light source disposed near charged wires of an electric grid serves asa lure, in which insects contacting charged wires with a high voltagebetween them are electrocuted.

In particular, mosquitoes are known to be attracted by heat, light,scent, movement, and vibration. Mosquitoes are attracted by ultraviolet(“UV”) light from a distance. However, it has been shown that at closeproximity this attraction to UV light is neutralized by the brightnessof the light source, which then actually repels mosquitoes the closerthey get to that UV light source.

A need for improved insect elimination devices therefore exists thatwill more effectively elimination undesirable insects, such asmosquitoes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect a device for attracting and eliminating insects isprovided. A preferred embodiment insect elimination device includes anouter grid with an inner grid disposed at least partially within theouter grid. A voltage source powers at least one of the inner grid andthe outer grid, providing an elimination zone. A warming tube isdisposed at least partially within the inner grid and provides a thermallure. A UV light source is disposed at least partially within thewarming tube to provide a first optical lure. A control circuit controlsthe duty cycle of the UV light source that is greater than 0% and lessthan 100% while the voltage source is powering the inner grid or theouter grid to keep the thermal lure within a predetermined temperaturerange, such as between 34° C. and 42° C. In specific preferredembodiments the elimination grid spacing between the inner grid and theouter grid is from 6.0 mm to 9.0 mm.

In various embodiments a second optical lure can be provided to providean optical lure when the UV light source is turned off. Otherembodiments may also include a chemical lure disposed in or near theelimination zone. Alternate embodiments may include a single electricalgrid.

Preferred embodiments include a duty cycle selector, and the controlcircuit controls the duty cycle of the UV light source according to asignal generated by the duty cycle selector.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein will be betterunderstood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings, whereinlike reference numerals refer to like components. For the purposes ofillustrating aspects of the present application, there are shown in thedrawings certain preferred embodiments. It should be understood,however, that the application is not limited to the precise arrangement,structures, features, embodiments, aspects, and devices shown, and thearrangements, structures, features, embodiments, aspects and devicesshown may be used singularly or in combination with other arrangements,structures, features, embodiments, aspects and devices. The drawings arenot necessarily drawn to scale and are not in any way intended to limitthe scope of this invention, but are merely presented to clarifyillustrated embodiments of the invention. In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment insect attracting andeliminating device.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the insect attracting and eliminating deviceshown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a detailed top perspective view of the insect attracting andeliminating device shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a detailed bottom perspective view of the insect attractingand eliminating device shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is another bottom perspective view of the insect attracting andeliminating device shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the insect attracting and eliminatingdevice shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the elimination mechanism in an alternateembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In addition to being attracted to ultraviolet (“UV”) light, mosquitoesalso have thermal receptors that are attuned to heat within the human toavian body temperature ranges. These thermal receptors have a finitesensing range and beyond about 10 feet a mosquito cannot detect heatvariations between separate heat sources. An embodiment insectelimination device 100 shown in FIGS. 1-6 is designed in view of thesecharacteristics to more effectively attract and elimination mosquitoesand other nuisance insects.

The insect attracting device 100 includes an external housing 10 into oronto which are disposed or set the various components of insectelimination device 100, as discussed more fully below. The externalhousing 10 is preferably made from an electrically insulating material,such as plastic, and in particularly preferred embodiments is made frompolycarbonate. The embodiment external housing 10 includes a top cap 12,a right outer grid 14, a left outer grid 16, a bottom housing 18 and abottom cap 20. The bottom cap 20 is pivotably connected to the bottomhousing 18 by way of hinge 26, and lockably engages with bottom housing18 by way of a snap fitting 24. The bottom cap 20 provides a door to theinterior region 5 of the external housing 10 to access componentstherein.

Various embodiments of the insect attracting device 100 include a lure30 to chemically attract nuisance insects, such as mosquitoes. Anysuitable lure 30 may be used, which is preferably removably connected toor in the insect attracting device 100. For example, it may be possibleto switch out different types of lures 30 to target specific species ofnuisance insect as may be desired based upon changing seasons,locations, etc. In one specific embodiment, the lure 30 includesoctanol. However, other types of lures 30 are certainly possible, suchas those that have excess amounts, or otherwise emit, carbon dioxide orthe like. In the specific embodiment insect elimination device 100, asurface of the bottom cap 20, such as external surface 21, serves as amount 29 to removably secure the lure 30. Of course, any suitable methodmay be used to removably secure the lure 30 to the insect attractingdevice 100 at any desired location on or in the insect attracting device100. By way of example, in the embodiment insect elimination device 100,the lure 30 includes flanges 32 which slidably engage with correspondingnotches or tracks 22 provided on the mount 29.

As best shown in FIG. 2, the outer grids 14, 16 are formed from aplurality of spaced ribs 15 that are in substantially parallelarrangement to each other and held in place by a plurality of risers 17.The spacing between immediately adjacent ribs 15 is preferably largeenough to allow the flying passage of the largest target nuisanceinsect, yet small enough to prevent hands and fingers from contactingelectrically charged components within the interior region 5 of thehousing 10. Preferred spacings for the ribs 15 are from 1 mm to 20 mm,more preferably still from 3 mm to 15 mm, and in a specificallypreferred embodiment is about 5 mm to 7 mm.

Reference is drawn to FIG. 6 for the various interior componentsdisposed within interior region 5 of housing 10. The insect attractingdevice 100 includes a top housing 19 to which are mechanically coupledthe left outer grid 16, right outer grid 14 and top cap 12. The tophousing 19 is preferably made from an electrically insulating material,such as polycarbonate. Control circuitry 40 for the insect attractingdevice 100 is disposed within or coupled to the top housing 19. Thecontrol circuitry 40 includes, for example, at least one transformer 42that converts line voltage into suitably high voltage to powercomponents in an electrical elimination mechanism 50 that is disposedwithin the interior region 5. The transformer 42 is electrically coupledto a control circuit board 44 that includes power driver circuits,electronic control circuits and the like as known in the art to controloperations of the transformer 42 and the other electrical componentsdiscussed in the following. Any suitable circuits as known in the artthat provide the functionality discussed here and in the following maybe employed with the control circuit board 44. Of course, the controlcircuit board 44 may, as a practical matter, be formed from two or moreseparate circuit boards, components or combinations thereof; for thesake of simplicity, the control circuit board 40 here is considered asonly a single PCB board with components mounted thereon. Othermechanical configurations are clearly possible, however. Also,electrically coupled to the control circuit board 44 are input elements60 for providing input, both user and environmental, to the controlcircuit board 44 as parameters to control operations of the electricalelimination mechanism 50.

With further reference to FIG. 3, embodiment input elements 60 include aduty cycle selector 62, a light sensor switch 64, a photocell 66 and anoperating status indicator 68; the operating status indicator 68 ispreferably a light emitting diode (LED), although any suitable lightsource or indicator may be used. The top cap 12 may include one or morerespective openings to permit the input components 62-68 to be exposedfrom the top surface 101 of the insect attracting device 100, yetelectrically coupled to the control circuit board 44 disposed below theinput components 62-68 within the top housing 19. It will be understoodthat the input components 62-68 are not limited to the physicalconfigurations or positions shown.

The duty cycle selector 62 is coupled to the circuit board 44 togenerate a signal that indicates a user-desired duty cycle for acomponent in the electrical elimination mechanism 50, as discussed infurther detail; this may be a rotary switch, a slide switch, a pluralityof buttons or the like. The light sensor switch 64 generates a signalfor the control circuit board 44 that indicates whether the user desiresthe insect attracting device 100 to operate automatically based upon theambient light, or to remain on at all times. In support of thisfunctionality, a photo sensor 66 is provided, preferably on the topsurface 101, to detect the level of ambient light; the photo sensor 66may be a photocell or any other suitable light-detecting mechanism. Whenthe light sensor switch 64 is set to a first state, indicating automaticoperation, the control circuitry 40 will power the transformer 42 toactivate the electrical elimination mechanism 50 if the photo sensor 66develops a signal that indicates that the ambient light has fallen belowa threshold value. This threshold value may be selected to correspond tolight levels that are typical of dusk, for example, and may bedetermined experimentally and set, for example, by the user via anotherinput element (not shown), hard wired at the factory, or the like. Whenthe light sensor switch 64 is set to a second state, indicatingcontinuous operation, the control circuitry 40 will power thetransformer 42 to activate the electrical elimination mechanism 50 atall times. The operating status indicator 68 may indicate when theelectrical elimination mechanism 50 is activated, or when the insectattracting device 100 is plugged in.

The electrical elimination mechanism 50 includes a UV light source 52, asecondary optical lure 51, an inner electrical grid 54, an outerelectrical grid 56, and a warming tube 58. The inner electrical grid 54is at least partially disposed within the outer electrical grid 56, andin preferred embodiments is completely disposed within the outerelectrical grid 56. As noted above, one or both of the inner electricalgrid 54 and outer electrical grid 56 are powered by the transformer 42to thereby provide an elimination zone between the electrical grids 54,56. In a preferred embodiment, the inner electrical grid 54 is poweredby the transformer 42 so as to be energized in a high voltage state asprovided by transformer 42, while the outer electrical grid 56 isgrounded. As noted above, control circuitry 40 controls operations ofthe transformer 44, and by extension whether or not the inner or outerelectrical grids 54, 56 are energized.

The warming tube 58, coupled to the top housing 19, is at leastpartially disposed within the inner electrical grid 54 and is made fromglass, plastic or any other suitable material that is transparent ortranslucent to the UV light generated by the UV light source 52. The UVlight source 52, in turn, is disposed at least partially within thewarming tube 58 and is electrically coupled to the control circuit 40which controls the lighting state of the UV light source 52. It will beappreciated that the warming tube 58 need not be limited only to theshape of a tube but may be any shape that can accept at least a portionof the UV light source 52. The UV light source 52 can be, for example, aUV bulb, and generates frequencies that are selected to optically lureone or more target species of nuisance insect.

The secondary optical lure 51 is preferably an LED that is electricallycoupled to and controlled by the control circuitry 40 and serves as afurther optical lure in addition to the primary optical lure provided byUV light source 52. The secondary optical lure 51 can generate light,for example, with a brightness that peaks at about 400 nm as a functionof wavelength, which is desirable as light around such wavelengthsattracts mosquitoes. The secondary optical lure 51 can be disposed, forexample, on a bottom surface of the top housing 19 in or adjacent to thewarming tube 58. In preferred embodiments the control circuitry 40 keepsthe secondary optical lure 51 turned on at all times such that theelectrical elimination mechanism 50 is energized.

The inner electrical grid 54 and outer electrical grid 56 each form amesh of an electrically conductive material, such as steel, aluminum,copper or the like that defines a respective interior cavity. Thespacing of the mesh for the outer electrical grid 56 is preferablysufficiently wide to permit the largest targeted nuisance insect to passthrough the outer electrical grid 56 and into the respective interiorcavity towards the inner electrical grid 54. The spacing of the mesh forthe inner electrical grid 54 is preferably smaller than that of theouter electrical grid 56, and is preferably small enough to prevent thesmallest targeted nuisance insect from passing through the meshstructure of the inner electrical grid 54.

An elimination grid spacing is the average or typical distance betweenthe outer surface of the inner electrical grid 54 and the inner surfaceof the outer electrical grid 56, i.e., the average perpendiculardistance between the immediately adjacent facing surfaces of the twogrids 54, 56. For example, if the electrical grids 54, 56 arecylindrical in shape and coaxial with each other, then the eliminationgrid spacing would be R₁-R₂, where R₁ is the radius of the inner surfacedefined by outer grid 56 and R₂ is the radius of the outer surfacedefined by inner grid 54. The elimination grid spacing for the insectattracting device 100 is preferably set in accordance with the size ofthe target nuisance insect. In preferred embodiments for the insectattracting device 100, the elimination grid spacing is from 6.0 mm to9.0 mm, more preferably still from 8.0 mm to 9.0 mm, and more preferablystill 8.0 mm+/−0.5 mm. This spacing is preferred as being within rangeof most nuisance insects (midges, etc.) but in particular formosquitoes, where the average range for mosquito wingspan is from 8 mmto 9 mm for the most common species.

The UV light source 52 serves as the primary optical lure for thetargeted specie or species of nuisance insect. The UV light source 52also, however, serves as a thermal warming source for the warming tube58. Warming tube 58 serves as a thermal lure for a targeted specie orspecies of nuisance insect. When the UV light source 52 is turned on itcauses warming of the thermal tube 58 while also serving to opticallyattract the targeted species of nuisance insect. When the UV lightsource 52 is turned off, the thermal tube 58 begins to cool. Opticalluring may still be provided, however, by secondary optical lure 51. Thecontrol circuitry 40 is capable of driving the UV light source 52 with aselectable duty cycle that is both less than 100% and greater than 0%while the electrical elimination mechanism 50 is energized and active.In other embodiments, the intensity of the brightness of the UV source52 may be varied in a manner similar to these selectable duty cycles.

In particular, the control circuitry 40 controls the duty cycle of theUV light source 52 so that the warming tube 58 is kept within a targetrange of temperatures that is adapted to thermally lure one or moretargeted species of nuisance insect. For example, in preferredembodiments, the control circuitry 40 controls the duty cycle of the UVlight source 52 so that the warming tube 58 remains between the human,aviary or both body temperature ranges, such as between 34° C. and 42°C. Any suitable timing and driving circuitry as known in the art may beused within the control circuitry 40 to provide this functionality. Atemperature sensor may be provided, for example, to determine thetemperature of the warming tube 58.

In preferred embodiments the control circuitry 40 controls the dutycycle of the UV light source 52 in accordance with a signal generated bythe duty cycle selector 62. For example, the duty cycle selector 62 mayhave two possible settings: a first in which the UV light source 52 hasa 100% duty cycle (i.e., always on), and a second in which the dutycycle is configured to keep the warming tube 58 within a desiredtemperature range. In other embodiments, multiple settings or positionscan be provided for the duty cycle selector 62, each corresponding to adifferent temperature range for the warming tube 58 so as to target adifferent respective specie or species of nuisance insect.

The control circuitry 40 may be configured to drive the duty cycle ofthe UV light source 52 in accordance with each respective selection ofthe duty cycle selector 62, so that the warming tube 58 remains withineach respective temperature range selected by the user. The respectiveduty cycles for each temperature range may be predetermined by thecontrol circuitry 40 (i.e., hardwired or otherwise pre-programmed intothe control circuitry 40), or may be controlled based upon the input ofa temperature sensor. The duty cycle selector 62 may include labelingindicative of each possible option so that the user can select anappropriate duty cycle, and hence temperature range for warming tube 58,based upon easily understood indicia. Alternatively, the duty cycleselector 62 may permit the user to manually control the duty cycle, suchas by way of an analog input, such as a slide switch or the like, toselect a duty cycle from a range of possible duty cycles, and therebyobtain a suitable duty cycle by trial and error.

The embodiment insect elimination device 100 provides a multi-levelsystem designed to attract and eliminate nuisance insects, such asmosquitoes. A first level of attraction, optical in nature, is providedby the primary optical lure, UV light source 52; a second level ofattraction, also optical in nature, is provided by the secondary opticallure 51. A third level of attraction, chemical in nature, is provided bythe chemical lure 30, such as by using octanol. A fourth level ofattraction, thermal in nature, is provided by the warming tube 58 aswarmed by the appropriately duty-cycled UV light source 52. During theperiod of time that the UV light source 52 is cycled off, the secondaryoptical lure 51 serves to optically attract nuisance insects, such asmosquitoes. The combination of these multiple lures 30, 51, 52, 58serves to strongly attract nuisance insects into the elimination gridarea 54, 56. In preferred embodiments, since both the warming tube 58,primary optical lure 52 and secondary optical lure 51 are located insidethe inner elimination grid 54, the insect is required to contact thegrids 54, 56 prior to reaching the illuminated warming tube 58, and inso doing creates an electrical pathway between the inner electrical grid54 and outer electrical grid 56 that sends a surge of electricitythrough the insect that is sufficiently powerful to render the insectlifeless. Further, by duty cycling the UV light source 52, embodimentinsect elimination devices provide a period of time in which proximityto the UV light source 52 does not repel the nuisance insect, since theUV light source 52 is dimmed or completely turned off; the insect isstill lured, however, by secondary light source 51, chemical lure 30 andthermal lure 58.

In an alternate embodiment 200, as depicted in FIG. 7, the componentsand housing structure are substantially similar to embodiment 100.However, the electrical elimination mechanism 250 includes a singleelectrical grid 256. A transformer 252 energizes the electrical grid 256to a high voltage state and control circuitry 254 controls operations oftransformer 252. Control circuitry 254 may control operations of thedevice 200 in much the same manner as the control circuit in the firstembodiment device 100. The electrical grid 256 forms a mesh of anelectrically conductive material, such as steel, aluminum, copper or thelike that defines a respective interior cavity. The spacing of theelectrical grid 256 is preferably small enough to prevent the smallestnuisance insect from passing through the mesh structure. The warmingtube 258 is at least partially disposed within the interior cavitydefined by electrical grid 256 and is made from glass, plastic, or anyother suitable material that is transparent or translucent to the UVlight. A UV light source 260 is disposed within the thermal tube.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention hasmany applications, may be implemented in various manners and, as such isnot to be limited by the foregoing embodiments and examples. Any numberof the features of the different embodiments described herein may becombined into one single embodiment, the locations of particularelements can be altered and alternate embodiments having fewer than ormore than all of the features herein described are possible.Functionality may also be, in whole or in part, distributed amongmultiple components, in manners now known or to become known.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes could bemade to the embodiments described above without departing from the broadinventive concept thereof. It is understood, therefore, that thisinvention is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but itis intended to cover modifications within the spirit and scope of thepresent invention. While there had been shown and described fundamentalfeatures of the invention as applied to being exemplary embodimentsthereof, it will be understood that omissions and substitutions andchanges in the form and details of the disclosed invention may be madeby those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of theinvention. Moreover, the scope of the present invention coversconventionally known, future developed variations and modifications tothe components described herein as would be understood by those skilledin the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. An insect attracting device comprising: an outergrid; an inner grid disposed at least partially within the outer grid,wherein a spacing between the outer grid and the inner grid correspondsto the elimination zone; a voltage source powering at least one of theinner grid and the outer grid; a thermal lure disposed in apredetermined position in relation to the elimination zone, the thermallure disposed at least partially within the inner grid or the outergrid; a first optical lure disposed in relation to the elimination zoneand thermally coupled to the thermal lure; a second optical lure that isdifferent from the first optical lure; and a control circuit to controlthe first optical lure to thereby control a temperature of the thermallure, and the control circuit maintains the second optical lure in an onstate during a period of time that the first optical lure is cycled toan off state.
 2. The insect attracting device of claim 1, wherein thecontrol circuit controls at least a duty cycle of operation of the firstoptical lure to be greater than 0% and less than 100% while the voltagesource is powering the at least one of the inner grid and the outergrid, so as to maintain the thermal lure within a predeterminedtemperature range.
 3. The insect attracting device of claim 2, whereinthe thermal lure includes a warming tube disposed at least partiallywithin the inner grid, and the first optical lure is disposed at leastpartially within the warming tube.
 4. The insect attracting device ofclaim 3, wherein the control circuit is configured to control the dutycycle to maintain the warming tube within a predetermined temperaturerange of between 34° C. and 42° C.
 5. The insect attracting device ofclaim 2, wherein the thermal lure includes a warming tube disposed atleast partially within the outer grid, and the first optical lure isdisposed at least partially within the warming tube.
 6. The insectattracting device of claim 5, wherein the control circuit is configuredto control the duty cycle to maintain the warming tube within apredetermined temperature range of between 34° C. and 42° C.
 7. Theinsect attracting device of claim 2, further comprising a duty cycleselector, wherein the control circuit controls the duty cycle of thefirst optical lure according to a signal generated by the duty cycleselector.
 8. The insect attracting device of claim 2, wherein thecontrol circuit comprises a light sensor to detect a level of ambientlight to produce a sensor signal and the control circuit utilizes thelight sensor signal to determine a mode of operation of the insectattracting device.
 9. The insect attracting device of claim 8, whereinthe mode of operation includes a first mode where the insect attractingdevice operates at select times dependent on the ambient light and asecond mode where the insect attracting device remains on at all times.10. The insect attracting device of claim 1, wherein the inner and outergrids are cylindrical.
 11. The insect attracting device of claim 1,wherein the elimination zone between the inner grid and the outer gridis from 6.0 mm to 9.0 mm.
 12. The insect attracting device of claim 1,wherein an outer grid mesh spacing is greater than an inner grid meshspacing.
 13. The insect attracting device of claim 12, wherein the outergrid mesh spacing is sufficiently large to allow target insects throughthe outer grid, and the inner grid mesh spacing is sufficiently small toblock target insects from proceeding through the inner grid.
 14. Theinsect attracting device of claim 1 wherein the thermal lure comprisesmaterial transparent or translucent to energy generated by the opticallure.
 15. The insect attracting device of claim 1, further comprising achemical lure.
 16. A method for attracting an insect comprising:utilizing a first optical lure to lure the insect towards anelectrically charged surface charged by a voltage source; utilizing asecondary optical lure that is different from the first optical lure tofurther lure the insect towards the electrically charged surface;warming a thermal lure to further lure the insect towards theelectrically charged surface; controlling a duty cycle of the firstoptical lure to maintain the thermal lure within a predefinedtemperature range; and maintaining the second optical lure in an onstate during a period of time that the first optical lure is cycled toan off state.
 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising utilizing achemical lure to further lure the insect towards the electricallycharged surface.
 18. The method of claim 16, further comprising reducingan operational level of the first optical lure while maintainingactivity of the voltage source to continue electrically charging theelectrically charged surface.
 19. The method of claim 16, furthercomprising disposing the first optical lure at least partially withinthe thermal lure.
 20. The method of claim 19, further comprisingproviding the thermal lure with material transparent or translucent toenergy generated by the first optical lure.